Although anti-wick heat stable fabrics such as polyester fabrics are commercially available, the anti-wicking fabric treatments are tedious and the technology is not available to most of the fabric manufacturers. Post-treatment of fabric with anti-wicking treatment tends to result in uneven and less durable coatings. Therefore, it is desirable to have the anti-wicking yarn prepared first and available to the fabric manufacturers for direct weaving into fabric.
Anti-wicking property refers to the ability of a fiber or a fabric to resist wicking water or moisture into the fiber bundles, thus preventing mildew growth and discoloration or weakening of the coated fibers. Anti-wicking is a surface tension phenomenon resulting from the fiber's tendency to transport water through capillary action. In addition, it is desirable that anti-wicking properties of the fibers be durable, so that the anti-wicking properties will not be lost by repeated contact with moisture or water.
A method for manufacturing a continuous filament is known to the art and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,542,301 issued to Barrington. The '301 patent discloses the production of continuous filaments from solution or suspensions of cellulose derivatives.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,865,790 issued to Baer relates to the impregnation and bonding of fibrous materials in order to improve the tensile strength of the finished products. The '790 patent discloses treatment of a fibrous material with a radio frequency (RF) field at right angles to the length of said material.